‘Israel Is the Greatest Accomplishment of the 20th Century': Nancy Pelosi Triggers Online Outrage

The latest visit by fourteen US Democratic lawmakers to Israel has sparked a variety of reactions both in the United States and the Middle East, particularly after the speech delivered by the US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi at the Chagall State Hall in the Knesset building last week.

The visit came to shed more light on the different views of Israel amongst Democratic legislators, especially as a growing number of them have been critical of Israeli policies against Palestinians, including VT Senator Bernie Sanders, MI Rep. Rashida Tlaib, NY Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, MN Rep. Ilhan Omar, and others.

However, the 14 Democratic US lawmakers expressed strong ties between the United States and Israel, who is considered a key ally to the US in the Middle East. 

In a speech, she delivered at the Israeli parliament, also known as the Knesset, US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi described the 1949 establishment of Israel, which often triggers controversies inside and outside of Israel, as "the greatest political achievement of the 20th century." 

Pelosi's words prompted numerous reactions on social media networks as they questioned Pelosi's knowledge of the historical complexities that surround the establishment of Israel, which is considered by Palestinians and their supporters a "national catastrophe," evident in the forced displacement of more than 700,000 Palestinians and a series of massacres committed by Jewish militants that later formed the Israeli Army Forces. 

Online people called on Nancy Pelosi to reconsider her words in light of the January 2022 Israeli reports that disclosed testimonies by Israeli combat soldiers about a long-denied massacre in the now ethnically-cleansed Palestinian village Tantura near Tel Aviv, saying that "the greatest accomplishment of the 20th century should not include such crimes." 

Moreover, many online people highlighted Pelosi's complete disregard of the latest reports by international human rights organizations which concluded that Israeli practices against Palestinians amount to the crime of Apartheid, including a 2021 report by Human Rights Watch and another by Amnesty International in February 2022.